media :

For all media enquiries please contact:

Ellice Mol

: +61 2 9399 1271

: 0415 224 886

NeuRA’s grant success recognises emerging researchers

FRIDAY26 OCTOBER 201212:49 PM

Neuroscience Research Australia’s emerging researchers performed well in the latest round of NHMRC funding as announced by the Minister for Health, Tanya Plibersek, at the University of Sydney last Friday.

Projects looking into sleep apnoea, autism, depression and chronic pain are among those funded in the announcements. A number of Research Fellowships, Career Development Fellowships and Early Career Fellowships were also awarded to NeuRA researchers.

Executive Director Prof Peter Schofield said it was pleasing to see a high success rate for fellowships, particularly among NeuRA’s early career researchers.

“Our success rates in being awarded Research Fellowships and Career Development Fellowships were high and it’s great to see both our senior and junior researchers faring well at the national level,” Prof Schofield said.

Congratulations to the following researchers:

Prof George Paxinos was awarded a Senior Principal Research Fellowship and this funding will allow Prof Paxinos to continue his pioneering work into brain mapping.

Assoc Prof Jane Butler was awarded a Senior Research Fellowship. Assoc Prof Butler’s research aims to provide a new understanding of the basic mechanisms of the neural control of human breathing.

Dr Tim Karl was awarded a RD Wright Biomedical Fellowship to continue his work into gene-environment interactions.

Dr Julie Brown was awarded both a Population Health and an Industry Fellowship. Dr Brown’s work is focused on road and vehicle safety.

Dr Danny Eckert was awarded a RD Wright Biomedical Fellowship. Dr Eckert is an expert in sleep apnoea and will continue to investigate the multiple pathogenic causes of sleep apnoea with a view towards developing novel, targeted therapeutic approaches for individual patients.

Dr Tasha Stanton was awarded an Australian Clinical Fellowship. Dr Stanton is currently undertaking research in chronic pain (in knee osteoarthrities and in back pain) and performing studies with healthy volunteers, inducing experimental pain, in order to better understand how the brain processes painful stimuli.

Dr Danny Eckert is part of a team that received project funding to evaluate the effect of morphine on obstructive sleep apnoea.

Prof Rhoshel Lenroot is part of a team that received Targeted Mental Health Research funding to conduct a randomised controlled trial of a telephone delivered social well-being and engaged living intervention for disengaged youth at risk of mental health.